Being Yourself

A friend of mine once told me that he liked to go to places like New Orleans, New York and San Francisco because he could feel more like himself in those environs than at home. There was a certain freedom for him in going out of town and turning loose of that self within him. He said it made him see life differently and it gave him a sense of creativity to be even more than he was.

I often wondered just what it was that caused him to feel that way. Was he able to do things not acceptable in his home environment? What was it about these away from home places that freed him up? Was it not possible for him to get freed up at home? Was this some sort of escape from something for him?

It’s not unusual for people to enjoy travel to see different places and things around our country and the world, but most people see that as a way of educating themselves about the world around them, not a way of escaping from their everyday lives. Travel can allow us to take time out to view the world around us, but not escape from who we are in our home communities.

Being aware of the world around us is certainly informative and helpful in our lives, but we can’t live everywhere all the time. We must be able to be ourselves where we live and not have to go elsewhere to find out who we are. Knowing more about the world around us should help us be ourselves at home. We can take the good and the bad we see in the world and help improve our home environments.

In Romans 12:2, St. Paul tells us: “And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God.” Seeking places and things to free up ourselves is not worthy to offer up to God. If He is not in it with us, we waste our time. Peace, Grace and Comfort comes from God and Jesus through the Holy Spirit. Our searches without them are dead end roads.

In 1 Samuel 16:6-7, we hear:  “So it was, when they came, that he looked at Eliab and said, ‘Surely the Lord’s anointed is before Him!’ But the Lord said to Samuel, ‘Do not look at his appearance or at his physical stature, because I have refused him. For the Lord does not see as man sees; for man looks at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart.’”  Does my friend see something in the places he likes to journey to, that are not of the Lord? Like Samuel, is he looking at the outward appearance of things and not to the heart of things?

What are we called to be in our environments? Shouldn’t we be seeking God in this and not trying to be freed up in the natural world? The way we can best be ourselves is to consult with our Creator Father. Who would know better what we have been created to be. If we don’t listen to Him while we’re at home, a travel location will not be of much help. He’s with us at home and in travel, sending us His Love and Grace.

In 2 Corinthians 12:9-10, Paul reminds us of Christ’s message to him: “But he said to me, ‘My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.’ Therefore I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me. For the sake of Christ, then, I am content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities. For when I am weak, then I am strong.”

So, it looks like “being ourselves” is found at home and everywhere we invite God to be with us. No matter the calamities of life that send us elsewhere to look, God is with us in our weaknesses. It is in all of the ups and downs of our lives, that we are lead when we turn to the Lord.

In 2 Corinthians 5:17, Paul again reminds us: “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come.”  Paul goes on in Hebrews 11:1, to confirm that faith is our ‘being ourselves’ tool: “Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen.”